Here’s another great option for a healthy and satisfying side dish, that will complement any summer meal. It’s my Mom’s Famous Rice Salad!  

My Mom is a wonderful cook and she has been my major inspiration for learning how to be a great home cook. From the time I was very young, I have memories of family and friends constantly complimenting my Mom on her cooking and baking. I knew that when I grew up I wanted to be a great cook just like her because it seemed to make people so happy.  And I wanted my home to be a place where family and friends could come and feel welcome and enjoy great experiences and memories of being together, just like our family home was. Growing up, our house was the center of family gatherings for both sides of our large family. It was so much fun for my siblings and me as kids, and as I reflect as an adult, I now realize it was lots of work for my parents. But I do know that they both enjoyed that their home was a welcoming, happy place to be for their kids, family, and friends.

In the 70’s, a number of my Mom’s brothers and sisters got married within a short time of each other and started their families.  My Mom and Dad hosted all the wedding showers, stags, and baby showers in our house. My Mom made all the food, with some help from one of her sisters.  No consideration was ever given to buying food or getting the event catered because money was tight in those days. As a result, most everything was always homemade.  The food was set up as a buffet table with a combination of hot and cold dishes. Rice salad was always a part of these events. As a kid, I was always happy to see that because I didn’t like potato salad or pasta (macaroni!) salad in those days, which also were standard at those gatherings.

I always wondered why we only seemed to have rice salad at these events.  Years ago when my husband and I started this cook ahead plan, we found it easy to do in the fall and winter because you could do casseroles, soups, stews, roasts…When we got to spring and summer, we wanted lighter food and less use of the oven.  We BBQ’d just about every day, so I came up with the idea that I would make a larger batch of those famous salads from our family events that would last 4 or 5 days and then we’d just throw something different on the BBQ each day. It has made a huge difference for us.  Because making a rice, potato or pasta side dish is usually the longest part of cooking a meal, having it done ahead of time means you can have a balanced meal on the table in no time. With the strategy of making one of these salads every 4 or 5 days, we have delicious, summery meals every night and without much prep and cleaning.  (Read my previous posts for more tips on summer cook ahead dishes).

Mom’s original rice salad recipe used white rice, carrots, celery, green onion, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and parsley.  I have adapted the recipe slightly over the years by using brown and wild rice instead of white rice and also adding chives, just because I have lots of them in my garden!  I prefer brown rice because it’s more filling, which means you eat less volume and it keeps you satisfied longer than white rice. As I’ve said before, there is no right or wrong with salads, and you definitely don’t need to follow a recipe to make a delicious salad.  Just use whatever you have on hand. One of my other relatives has made this salad using tomatoes, black olives, basil and onion and it was delicious also! So, go ahead and change up the veggies and seasoning here to suit your preferred flavours. And, as always leave me a comment to share the version you created.  Don’t forget to dress the rice when it is still very warm to hot so it will absorb the dressing. (Thanks again to Tim, our caterer friend for that tip!)

A number of my friends and family have asked for this recipe, which is always a compliment to the cook.  But, the greatest compliments I have received were when my Mom said, “This rice salad tastes better than usual.  What did you do?” – and when I heard my Mom tell her friends that I am a very good cook. There’s nothing like getting a compliment from someone you admire so much.

Thanks Mom!  You are my inspiration!

My last blog post promised the recipe for this salad, which is a new addition to my make-ahead dishes this summer.  As you read in the last blog post, my summer salads have included, rice, various types of pasta and potato salads.  These are the basis of being able to make delicious, complete weekday meals with little prep and clean up.

On Father’s Day, we attended an extended family party at R & E’s house.  They had a delicious couscous salad with a lemony dressing.  I immediately fell in love with it and thought I should make my own version of this.  I normally use vinegars in my dressings, so using lemon is a nice change of flavour.  Athough I have used lemon as part of a salad dressing before, it’s not a go-to for me, so having the salad at R & E’s house, was a good reminder for me of this alternative. 

When it comes to salads, there is no right and wrong…you can add any vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds or herbs that you enjoy and it will taste great.  There is not much need for a recipe for making salads, so I offer mine only as a guide for you to start out and create your own dish.  I usually just peek in the fridge to see what I have on hand and start there.  On the day I created this couscous salad for the first time, we had carrots, peppers, and green onions on hand, so I thought that would make a lovely taste and colour combination with the lemony couscous.  I have also been experimenting with making my own roasted chickpeas and I had some on hand, so I tossed them in.  They provided a nutty flavour, and crunchy texture.

I did use fresh lemon juice for this since it was one of the main ingredients.  If you are in a rush, give it a try with bottled lemon juice and let me know how it goes!  I also used a lemon zester to get lovely thin ribbons of lemon rind.  It added great flavour and colour, and it didn’t feel as though you were biting into lemon rind.

Although I believe that a salad is just a combination of wonderfully balanced fresh ingriedients that should not require a recipe, there are a few things I’ve learned along the way when creating these grain/starch based salads that may be helpful tips for you:

• dress the rice, potato, couscous, pasta, quinoa, salad while it’s still warm to hot.  The dressing will be absorbed and you won’t have to adjust the dressing before serving.  (This is a tip I learned from Tim, a local chef and friend who has catered a number of large events for us.  It has made a world of difference for me!  Thanks Tim!)
• let the dressed grains, pasta cool before adding the vegetables and fresh herbs.  This will prevent the vegetables from cooking and the herbs from wilting and browning
• never, ever use a bottled dressing…there is way too much of things you don’t need…salt, sugar, multisyllabic things you don’t understand!  Just use two parts quality oil and one part acidity, such as vinegars, lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, tomato juice, salt, pepper and herbs.  You can even make this ahead in a jar or bottle and have your own ready to go dressing.  In a pich, just dress your salad with a sprinkle of good quality olive oil and a squirt of lemon….It’s miles ahead of any bottled dressing you can find on any level…take the few minutes i takes to make a homemade dressing rather than opting for a ready-made product that has all kinds of things you don’t need – or want!  These are things I learned from my Mom growing up and still prove to be true today!

Happy cooking, fellow ‘everydayhomegourmet’ friends…please share your comments and tips!